5 Must-have Productivity Tips for Tax Season

Tax season is the perfect time to implement some new productivity tips into your organization arsenal.

On top of everything else you have going on, you have to find time to finish your taxes and incorporate all of those awesome write offs we’ve been talking about all year.

Check out these five fresh, fierce productivity tips to maximize your workflow during this busy time of year.

1. Consolidate Your Email

This may seem like a no-brainer, but we were shocked when we discovered how many Shoeboxed users were still trekking to multiple login screens to check different email accounts.

Whether you use Outlook, Gmail or another mail server of your choice, it’s easy to set up IMAP or POP functioning to get everything in one place.

2. Block Offensive Websites

No, we’re not talking about those kinds of websites. We’re talking about Facebook, Reddit and other sites that can seriously offend your honest, productive intentions.

Block the most addictive sites during work hours, then unblock them once you get home. You may find that you forget to unblock them altogether, and that you mysteriously have more time to get work done and hang out with friends and family.

3. Create an Inspiring Workspace

Forget Feng Shui and whether or not pastel colors invoke feelings or serenity. One of our favorite productivity tips is to decorate your workspace in a way that inspires you!

If posters of 80s metal bands make you feel productive, go for it! If natural lighting makes you feel calm enough to face a stress-filled day, situate yourself by as big a window as possible. Take stock of what makes you feel ready to work, and style your space accordingly.

4. Outsource

One of our favorite productivity tips for tax season will also save you time and money: outsource! Unless you’re really good at the task at hand and it brings you some kind of creative or professional fulfillment, let someone else do it!

As a small business owner, you certainly don’t need to be handling your own invoicing, even if you can. Doing your own invoicing doesn’t benefit you or your company in any way.

With the time saved by outsourcing the job to someone else, you could be out there getting new clients and actually making money!

Try Elance.com or Odesk.com to find affordable quality freelancers who can take mundane, energy-sucking tasks off of your plate.

5. Get a Calendar Already!

And no, not the kind you hang on the wall – the kind that texts, emails and instant messages you an hour, then 15 minutes, then 5 minutes before an appointment or deadline.

Interactive calendars allow you to synch with co-workers and clients, create different schedules for various projects, and make missing a deadline virtually impossible. (Ok, so you may miss it, but you’ll be very aware that you’re missing it).